Mother Jones: Why Did Trump Win? A Roundup of the Most Popular Theories

[ancianita]

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/11/why-did-trump-win-roundup-most-popular-theories

Kevin Drum offers responses to this topic list of contributing causes, and we probably need to get more data to be sure which of them were key factors in why 49% didn't vote at all. To me the non-voter is the most important problem we have in this country. Researching the non-voter should be a top priority for the Democratic Party. Because I'm still looking at the 49% non-voter population.

James Comey

Whitelash and the white working class

Racism

The fundamentals

The media

Sexism

Lousy turnout from Democrats

Millennials

Voter suppression

The electoral college

While Drum claims it's not best to promote our own pet theories, I'd say that to keep from doing that, we we need to learn from non-voters how these issues do or don't relate to them.

The non-voter 49% below offer info relates to two topics listed above, like voter suppression, ease of poll access. Most of all, they say it's the candidates themselves. We might be shooting the party in the foot by addressing party campaign problems rather than those listed below.

[Turbineguy]

1. I work with a lot of people in my classes who are

Fox News conservatives. Their hatred for Hillary Clinton was amazing. They were twisted with hate. 30 years of right-wing-hate-radio and 20 years of Fox News did the job it was supposed to do. They are brainwashed.

At one point in my course we get into cognitive bias. I keep it non-political, but it's too subtle for them. There are apparently brainwash defense mechanisms.

[FarPoint]

3. Absolutely correct!

The brainwashing propaganda has been amazingly successful....

My thoughts...we probably need to stop the bleeding and let the tragedy ocurr...let these people feel the pain...we as Democrats have been fighting for "we the people" 24/7... just keeping our heads above water while the republicans flush the toilet....

The republicans have successfully eroded away at our civil rights, sense of security and self worth as a county of many races, religion and lifestyles...

I really don't think our battles make a difference in the long run...we are miserable....I think only way to educated the tRump voters would be to let the cards fall as they may, suffering can be a motivator...we then can have a stronger base to fight the republicans....

Kind of like how when teach and preach to our children only to see that they must feel the hard life knocks to understand what is really going on...


I must share that I vacillate on this thinking...I'm also 100% into obstruction of all GOP Glenda's... so, I am still essential in the frief stage....

[TrekLuver]

4. Yes this is true. Everywhere I went...people hated Hillary. They either had a reason

for their hate or they "just hated her"....I think she did pretty well considering that.

[ancianita]

7. So, much GOP ground game is psyops through media & PR (Hate the word but it's a hearts/minds/fear

strategy), and part of media and state level politics for decades. It's fear-driven drama.

[duffyduff]

2. None but the quirks of the EC is correct.

The entire blame rests on the media in the first place for endlessly promoting Donald Trump for ratings and ad revenue.

[MrScorpio]

5. This was a white, sexist backlash, pure and simple

Combined with years of Republican voter suppression efforts.

Added to that the culmination of years of smears against the Clintons.

[emulatorloo]

6. Plus 1. Thanks for posting.

[ancianita]

8. Okay, but what about the reasons non-voters give. Do those pure & simple reasons explain them?

I'd propose a mandatory voting law for alienated eligibles; otherwise their opting out number are likely to stay the same, probably because of smearing and suppression.

Bought media and voter suppression have to be overcome by voting laws rather than better PR or ground game, to my mind.

[MrScorpio]

9. If it weren't for things I mentioned, Clinton would have had the margin of victory

Many of those reasons given why people don't vote are indicative of long term systemic problems that are inherent in all elections in this country.

It also shows a mindset of many who treat voting as a limited privilege and not a right of citizenship.

If anything, it's the weakness of civil institutions and the lack of instruction come to pass.

[ancianita]

10. Passing a mandatory voting law can offset systemic problems and civil institution weakness.

The mindset problems can then sort themselves out over time.